Did the government shutdown impact FAFSA applications? Here’s what to know.
The 2026-27 Federal Student Aid application was made available for students on Sept. 24. With changes to the application and the ongoing federal government shutdown, FAFSA opportunities may look different for prospective and current students. Katie Crews I Design Editor
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On Sept. 24, the 2026-27 Free Application for Federal Student Aid became available to students, a week before its traditional Oct. 1 release date. Due to changes to this year’s application and the federal government shutdown, FAFSA may look different for students and families this year.
The United States Department of Education announced the earliest launch in the application’s history, making the form available a week sooner than usual and calling it a “priority” for the Trump administration.
“With this historic launch, the FAFSA technical team put the FAFSA process back on track, providing students, families, and college-access partners with the certainty they need to prepare to finance postsecondary education, while providing schools and states the reliable information they need to support their students,” U.S. Secretary of Education Linda McMahon said in the release.
The Oct. 1 deadline has been a tradition after former President Barack Obama moved the date from Jan. 1 for the 2017-2018 cycle, which continued in the following years. After the forms were delayed by three months in 2024, Congress signed the FAFSA Deadline Act, mandating the applications be released on Oct. 1.
After Congress failed to reach a deal on Affordable Care Act subsidies, the government shut down Wednesday, disrupting federal agencies.
The DOEd released a contingency plan on Sunday, stating the department will continue disbursing Pell Grants and Federal Direct Student loans, as well as maintaining Title I and Individuals with Disabilities Education Act grant funding.
Student loan borrowers will still be required to make payments on their outstanding student debt, McMahon said in the release.
The department will furlough approximately 95% of its non-Federal Student Aid staff for the first week, and if the shutdown is longer than a week, roughly 2,100 employees would be furloughed, according to the plan.
The American Council on Education expressed its concerns about the student impact of the shutdown in a Wednesday statement on its website.
The council said the shutdown arrived during a “broader uncertainty” around federal education programs, research funding and the “role of executive authority” when deciding spending priorities.
Eighty-one percent of SU students receive some form of financial aid, according to the university’s website.
Jessica Calhoun, associate director of financial aid communications at SU’s Office of Financial Aid and Scholarship Programs, said the office has added resources to the homepage regarding the recent shutdown and its impact on federal student aid.
She said there’s “great information” in the FSA Electronic Announcement to inform students on the shutdown and its impacts.
The website encourages students to visit the dates and deadlines page for more details, stating that “there is minimal impact on students, borrowers, schools…” as written in the FSA announcement.
Before the September rollout, the DOEd beta tested the 2026–27 application in August and September, adding new updates to “streamline the application process and strengthen system performance,” according to the announcement.
The new features will allow students to invite their parents or contributors to complete some of the FAFSA forms and receive faster account confirmation. Completing the application is reported to take 15 to 20 minutes.
For returning SU undergraduates, the 2026–27 FAFSA application closes on Feb. 1, 2026.
